The displeasure with female referees in top women’s soccer is growing. 1. FC Nürnberg is calling on the DFB to allow referees from the men’s game to blow the whistle.

1. FC Nürnberg has complained massively about the performance of female referees in the women’s Bundesliga. “We are at a point where the current situation in the women’s refereeing sector (…) is no longer acceptable and where we must and would like to publicly point out qualitative shortcomings and structural deficits at the DFB,” said Osman Cankaya, sporting director of the women’s club. In a press release from the promoted club, he emphasized: “We are talking about a cross-club, league-wide problem here.”

All clubs are affected, regardless of the relegation or championship battle, according to the Nuremberg club. “We are alarmed by both the quality and the quantity of errors, which in our view not only affects the competition, but also the attractiveness of the Bundesliga,” they continued.

There have been frequent complaints about the performance of female referees this season. According to those responsible at FC Bayern and VfL Wolfsburg, one problem is that referees from the men’s professional leagues are not allowed to referee in the women’s top flight because there are separate squads at the German Football Association. In addition, the DFB has problems recruiting young women.

“We only see a short-term, acute solution in abolishing the current policy of having the matches in the 1st and 2nd women’s Bundesliga refereed exclusively by female referees and focusing on quality and competence (…) across the genders,” suggests 1. FC Nürnberg.

Christine Beitinger, sporting director of female referees at the DFB, recently described breaking up this caste system as a “more complex issue” and said: “The prerequisite must be that male referees are part of the women’s Bundesliga. Then we are basically open to it. Referees should therefore be part of the women’s Bundesliga squad. “